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Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Angel Pantoja, NHS of New Haven's property manager, has worked our organization for nearly three years now. He is a valued employee who works hard each day maintaining our properties, and managing our rentals on Edgewood Avenue.

But Angel is also generous and thoughtful, and the rest of the NHS staff recently had the chance to see this first hand. As NHS welcomed a new superintendent to our team (managing our Carmel Street apartments), Angel took it upon himself to organize a surprise housewarming!

On Wednesday, March 16, Richard Andres, our new superintendent, walked into his apartment to find it fully stocked with brand-new furniture including a dining room set, bedroom set, tables, chairs, pots and pans. Staff from NHS were present as well as many guests from Richard's life including his friends from church.

We wholeheartedly welcome Richard to our NHS family, and thank Angel for all that he does.

Monday, March 21, 2016

The weather is warming up, the birds are chirping, the flowers are growing, and you're thinking of becoming a homeowner...NHS of New Haven wants to help!

We have three tips to help ensure you find the right home for you.

Mortgage rates are very low and home prices are stable or rising in New Haven and throughout all of Connecticut, so to get a leg up while you can! We recommend that prospective homebuyers follow three simple rules to help make one of your biggest purchases go smoothly.

1) Consult a housing counselor for your homebuyer "check-up".

Knowing the numbers that matter when buying a home is extremely important. More than two-thirds of consumers in a NeighborWorks America survey said that the home buying process is complicated.

The best way to get a thorough understanding of the entire process is to consult with one of our housing counselors. The staff at NHS are certified professionals who will walk you through:

the different types of mortgages and interest rates;

the effect your credit score has on being approved for a loan;

how much down payment is needed for your purchase, and

how much home you can truly afford.

To be in the strongest position to make an offer that is accepted, you have to be prepared. That’s where initial consultation with a housing counselor is vital, even before meeting with any other professionals involved in the process.

There’s no better way to know how much money is coming and going than with a budget, and

becoming a homeowner without a clear budget could be a recipe for disaster. Did you know that national surveys have shown that less than one-third of consumers have a budget?! Give yourself a leg-up on the competition: go into home buying with a budget that includes:

potential commuting costs after you move into your home;

home maintenance expenses (there will always be something!); and

even estimates for changes in your life, such as becoming a parent or paying for college

Keeping all these numbers in your budget before you buy your home will provide you much-needed peace of mind.

3) Be determined, but stay informed

Finding the right mortgage and the right home takes time, and it’s natural to want to shorten the

process. However, making a winning bid on a home that isn’t right, and cutting corners to do so, could lead to some serious trouble. For example, forgoing a home inspection to speed things up, or not fully understanding the terms of the mortgage are ingredients for problems down the road.

Once again, trust your NHS mortgage counselors to guide you along the way. Ask as many questions as you want -- throughout the entire process, let us join you on your journey toward homeownership, and we'll take you exactly where you want to be.

Friday, March 18, 2016

"Thank you, UNH students, and Neighborhood Housing Services, for your heroic work cleaning up the badly neglected Sherman Avenue side of Beaver Ponds Parks. We, as Friends of Beaver Ponds Park, thank you for your arduous work clearing old bottles and even the kitchen sink out of the park.

Nan Bartow

Bill Bidwell

Friends of Beaver Ponds Park"

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All this week (March 14-18), University of New Haven students have been working with NHS to clean up Beaver Ponds Park, along Sherman Parkway. They were joined on Friday, March 18 with a few more students from Yale, and together they picked up trash and debris from the site.

Stephen Cremin-Endes (NHS) addressing the group

Beaver Ponds Park is owned by the City of New Haven and is an approximately 107-acre park that includes athletic fields (including Bowen Field) and an approximately 86-acre wetland and pond system. Friends of Beaver Ponds Park is a community group active in preserving and enhancing the pond areas for recreational uses.

Trash funneling into the pond.

A trash study was conducted in 2009. The study found that residential waste including plastic bags, bottles, cigarette butts, food wrappers, etc. from the areas surrounding Beaver Pond Park are improperly discarded and are transported by the stormwater system into the pond. Click here to learn more about this issue.

5 trash bags collected in just one morning!

UNH Student, Brianna

University of New Haven student, Brianna, says, "I haven't done a ton of community service and wanted some new experiences. We're always learning about other students going to exotic places for spring break to clean up, but sometimes where you really need the help is locally."

LtR: UNH Students Jen & Sarah

Sarah, a sophomore at UNH says, "I chose to volunteer as part of an Alternative Spring Break. I wanted to get more involved. When I first got here, [the Pond] was disgusting. There were bottles everywhere, from one end to the other."

Jen says "I’ve never really done anything like this. So I thought why not? And you have an entire week to do it. I actually enjoy it. It’s nice to feel like you’re making a difference."

Cleaning up everything -- including the kitchen sink!

Thank you to all our volunteers!

For more information about this activity, or any of our other volunteer opportunities, feel free to reach out to Stephen Cremin-Endes, Director of Community Building & Organizing at NHS: scremin-endes@nhsofnewhaven.org.

During the event, all the guests were inspired by the message of hope and gratitude expressed by Angela Caraway, a resident of the Water Gardens Apartments developed by DHIC in North Carolina, and Sandra Marshall, who was able to purchase the home she has rented for the last 15 years with the help of NHS of Cleveland.